Nina Jankowicz to MSNBC's Chris Hayes: ‘Sensationalist narratives’ about disinfo board were ‘completely wrong’

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Nina Jankowicz says its 'ironic' that disinformation board was 'taken over by disinformation'

Nina Jankowicz said on MSNBC Wednesday that it was "ironic" the disinformation board was "taken over by disinformation."

Nina Jankowicz, who stepped down from the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Disinformation Governance Board after it was put on pause this week, joined MSNBC's All in with Chris Hayes on Wednesday to discuss the initiative, saying that it was "ironic" the disinfo board was "taken over by disinformation."

Hayes asked Jankowicz what the board itself was meant to do. "All these sensationalist narratives about what people thought the board was going to do were completely wrong. It was a coordinating mechanism. It was meant to, you know, make sure that the very large agency that is the Department of Homeland Security, that people were talking to each other within it," she said. 

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Nina Jankowicz, former executive director of the Disinformation Governance Board, joined MSNBC's All In with Chris Hayes to discuss the board's purpose on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (Screenshot/MSNBC)

She went on to provide an example involving the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and misinformation about natural disasters. "Lets say a foreign adversary like Iran or China perhaps would put out a narrative that says ‘oh, you know, here’s how you get out of this city,' or ‘here’s where you can find disaster aid,'" she said, adding that this type of misinformation could put people in danger. 

"That’s the sort of disinformation and misinformation that we were looking to support the department in addressing, to make sure that they had best practices, and most importantly to protect Americans' freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy while we are doing all that work," she said. 

The former executive director asserted that the characterizations of the disinformation board were incorrect. "Frankly, it’s kind of ironic that the board itself was taken over by disinformation when it was meant to fight it," she noted. 

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Nina Jankowicz resigned from the Department of Homeland Security's Disinformation Governance Board this week (@wiczipedia Twitter account)

"I fully understand Americans' concerns that they don't want government involved in policing speech and, good news, this initiative wasn't involved in policing speech and neither was I," she said, emphasizing that she believes government involvement is necessary when there are threats to national security. 

Hayes also asked Jankowicz about what her or the board's vision would be "to combat disinformation" from a government perspective.

She contended that people "need the tools to navigate today's information environment." Jankowicz said that it was never the intention for the board to say "what was true or false." 

The MSNBC host followed up with a question about her personal experience. 

In this photo taken June 5, 2015, a view of the Homeland Security Department headquarters in Washington. Nina Jankowicz resigned from the DHS Disinformation Governance Board this week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Jankowicz said it was "really overwhelming" because she considered herself "a really nuanced, reasonable person." She asserted that claims she was a "partisan actor" were "wildly out of context" and that she and her family were receiving death threats. 

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The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the DHS offered to let her stay in the agency but that it was unclear what she was going to do. The report placed blame on "right wing" attacks against Jankowicz. 

A DHS spokesperson also blamed attacks from the right and defended Jankowicz. 

"Nina Jankowicz has been subjected to unjustified and vile personal attacks and physical threats," a DHS spokesperson told the Washington Post. "In congressional hearings and in media interviews, the Secretary has repeatedly defended her as eminently qualified and underscored the importance of the Department’s disinformation work, and he will continue to do so."